SPAC to dedicate star to Lewis Swyer at tonight’s final ballet performance

The Saratoga Performing Arts Centerwill celebrate the contributions of Lewis A. Swyer (1918-1988) with the dedication of a star in SPAC’s Walk of Fame at 7:15 p.m. tonight.

Lewis Swyer

Lewis Swyer was one of the first business leaders to get behind the movement to create a performing arts center in the Saratoga Spa State Park. His company, the L.A. Swyer Construction Company, built the SPAC Amphitheatre. Swyer was SPAC’s longest serving Board Chairman, holding the position from 1974–1988. Swyer died in December of 1988.

Swyer also co-founded the National Museum of Dance in 1986 to establish SPAC and the Capital Region as a center for world class dance. In 1992, the Lewis A. Swyer School for the Performing Arts was opened in conjunction with the National Museum of Dance. It was envisioned by Swyer to be a place to honor professionals who cultivated a rich diversity of professional dance – choreographers, teachers, dancers and impresarios alike.

Swyer sat on the boards of several colleges including the State University of New York at Albany, Skidmore College and the Niagara-Mohawk Power Corporation. He was a founding member of the New York State Council of the Arts and his construction company built many of the area’s marquee buildings including The Ten Eyck Project, Twin Towers and 80 State Street in downtown Albany, the Unitarian Church, designed by Edward Durell Stone, Temple Beth Emeth, Albany Academy for Girls and several high rise apartment buildings, in addition to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Attending the dedication ceremony on Saturday, July 21 will be SPAC’s President Marcia White, NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins, members of SPAC’s Board of Directors and members of the Swyer Family. Tonight’s final 2012 performance of the New York City Ballet will be followed by fireworks.